JV Non-Breeding Waterbirds (Pxl)

Joint Ventures (JVs) are bird conservation partnerships, established to achieve the goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). There are 22 bird habitat JVs in North America, and our JV, the Upper Mississippi/Great Lakes Region Joint Venture (UMGL JV) is located in the Midwest, in a pivotal location in the Mississippi Flyway, for people involved in migratory bird conservation. We are a collaborative, regional group of government agencies, tribes, nonprofit organizations, corporations, universities, and individuals that conserve habitat for the benefit of migratory birds, other wildlife, and people. Our landscape includes eastern Minnesota; all of Wisconsin and Michigan; eastern Nebraska and Kansas; western, southern and eastern Iowa; northern Missouri, Illinois and Indiana; and northwestern Ohio. To address Waterbird habitat limitation during the non-breeding (migration-staging and winter) periods, we aim to maximize focal species recruitment through conservation of limiting non-breeding habitats. To help achieve this objective, we used county-level eBird and Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring (IWMM; 20 National Wildlife Refuges) data for non-breeding focal species. These regional data sets were limited for several species but provide a basis for assessing distribution of non-breeding waterbirds. We assumed habitat area was more limited for non-breeding waterbirds where counts per wetland were highest. In each county, we appraised average eBird (2007–2016) and IWMM (2010–2017) waterbird counts relative to county size and percent coverage of wetlands important to distinct non-breeding guilds: Emergent, Forested, Aquatic Bed, and Unconsolidated Bottom and Shore (see table 1 in 2018 JV Waterbird strategic plan). Count neighborhoods (from kernel density analysis; see Soulliere and Al-Saffar 2017) were ranked by the density of waterbirds per wetland area, emphasizing non-breeding expanses with highest counts relative to wetland coverage. The resulting model highlighted the areas having the most important waterbird non-breeding habitats for retention and expansion. Finally, we converted the original raster datset of this model to TIFF format (this product) to improve data visualization, assessment, and interactivity online. The raster map was published in the JV Waterbird Habitat Conservation Strategy – 2018 Revision (Figure 10B). This product shows the distribution and relative density (scale of 0 – 1; values of low – high) of the most valuable areas (pixel neighborhoods) across the JV region, to acquire or manage whatever the required conservation action at the local scale is (i.e., retention, protection, and or restoration). Aggregate-priority-areas, emphasized mostly across Bird Conservation Region (BCR) 22, were predicted to produce the most value for the decision makers. This product can be scaled-down (i.e., stepped-down to state, watershed, county, or any smaller target area) and supplemented with additional local data for customized output maps depicting best areas for Waterbird non-breeding habitat restoration vs. retention vs. enhancement. See the JV website and related step-down publications for details. Links: Coming Soon: To download this TIFF dataset and related data, metadata, and documentation, please browse the UMGL JV online folder in the U.S. Geological Survey's ScienceBase repository. To view and explore this TIFF dataset and related data, please visit the online experience of the UMGL JV Decision Support Tools. References: Model codes and final steps (for internal use of UMGLJV staff): (i) AgsJvw_Hcs17YrSumFor8BrdNoWB_Ebd0716And21NWRs1017Pts_Us1034Cnty19St_1mRpts100mTKd1km31kmR_SumSppAvgsNrm2Times_RevisedV_Ready = albers_Jv18WbBrdNo. (ii) albers_Jv18WbBrdNo → converted to TIFF and projected on-the-fly to WGS84 → renamed to Jv18WbBrdNoR. Coming Soon: For internal use of USFWS staff: Data Management Plan (DMP) ID = 000; Title: UMGL JV Non-Breeding Waterbird Distribution.联合保护项目（Joint Ventures，JVs）是为实现北美水禽管理计划（North American Waterfowl Management Plan，NAWMP）目标而设立的鸟类保护合作伙伴关系。北美地区共设有22个鸟类栖息地联合保护项目，本次研究涉及的上密西西比河/五大湖地区联合保护项目（Upper Mississippi/Great Lakes Region Joint Venture，UMGL JV）位于中西部，处于密西西比迁徙路线的关键位置，服务于迁徙鸟类保护相关从业者。本团队是跨区域的协作群体，成员涵盖政府机构、原住民部落、非营利组织、企业、高校及个人，旨在为迁徙鸟类、其他野生动物及人类福祉保护栖息地。我们的保护范围包括明尼苏达州东部、威斯康星州全境、密歇根州全境、内布拉斯加州东部与堪萨斯州东部、艾奥瓦州西部、南部及东部区域、密苏里州北部、伊利诺伊州、印第安纳州，以及俄亥俄州西北部。 为解决非繁殖期（迁徙停留与越冬期）水鸟栖息地受限的问题，本研究旨在通过保护限制性非繁殖期栖息地，最大化目标物种的种群补充量。为达成这一目标，我们采用了县级尺度的eBird观测数据与综合水鸟管理与监测（Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring，IWMM；覆盖20处国家野生动物保护区）数据，用于分析非繁殖期目标物种的分布情况。这些区域数据集虽针对部分物种存在数据局限性，但仍为评估非繁殖期水鸟的分布提供了基础依据。我们假设，单处湿地的观测数量越高的区域，非繁殖期水鸟的栖息地受限程度越强。 在每个县域内，我们评估了2007-2016年的eBird观测数据与2010-2017年的IWMM观测数据中的水鸟平均数量，并结合县域面积与对不同非繁殖期水鸟功能群具有重要意义的湿地占比进行分析——这些功能群包括挺水植物群落、森林湿地、水生植被床以及松散底质与岸带（详见2018年联合保护项目水鸟战略规划表1）。通过核密度分析得到的计数邻域（详见Soulliere与Al-Saffar，2017）按单位湿地面积的水鸟密度进行排序，重点突出了相对于湿地覆盖度而言观测数量最高的非繁殖期分布区域。最终得到的模型识别出了对水鸟非繁殖期栖息地保护与拓展最为重要的区域。 最后，我们将该模型生成的原始栅格数据集转换为TIFF格式（即本次发布的产品），以提升数据可视化、评估与在线交互性。该栅格地图已发表于《联合保护项目水鸟栖息地保护战略——2018修订版》（图10B）。本产品展示了本联合保护项目区域内最具保护价值的区域（像素邻域）的分布与相对密度（取值范围0至1，代表价值从低到高），以便在地方尺度上开展所需的保护行动，包括栖息地保留、保护或修复。 主要集中在鸟类保护区域（Bird Conservation Region，BCR）22的综合优先区域，被预测可为决策者带来最高的保护价值。本产品可进行尺度缩减，即逐级下推至州、流域、县域或任意更小的目标区域，并可补充额外的本地数据，生成定制化的输出地图，用于识别水鸟非繁殖期栖息地修复、保留与增强的最优区域。详细信息请参阅联合保护项目官网及相关的尺度下推研究成果。 即将上线：如需下载本TIFF数据集及相关数据、元数据与文档，请浏览美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey, USGS）ScienceBase知识库中的UMGL JV在线文件夹。如需查看并探索本TIFF数据集及相关数据，请访问UMGL JV决策支持工具在线平台。 参考文献：本研究的模型代码与最终步骤（仅供UMGL JV内部使用）： (i) AgsJvw_Hcs17YrSumFor8BrdNoWB_Ebd0716And21NWRs1017Pts_Us1034Cnty19St_1mRpts100mTKd1km31kmR_SumSppAvgsNrm2Times_RevisedV_Ready = albers_Jv18WbBrdNo (ii) albers_Jv18WbBrdNo → 转换为TIFF格式并实时投影至WGS84坐标系 → 重命名为Jv18WbBrdNoR 即将上线：仅供美国鱼类及野生动物管理局（U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service，USFWS）内部使用：数据管理计划（Data Management Plan，DMP）编号=000；标题：UMGL JV非繁殖期水鸟分布。